As you teach your children to cook, don’t be afraid to try new recipes or techniques together. I really like to teach the “why” behind each ingredient or technique, so a technical food science book is a must for me. You can probably find one in your local library. Cook’s Country and Cook’s Illustrated and [...]
Archive for the ‘Cooking with Children’ Category
Cooking with Children, Vol. 7: Learn with them
Posted in Cooking with Children, In the Kitchen, teaching on August 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Cooking with Children, Vol. 6: Make their dreams come true
Posted in Cooking with Children, In the Kitchen, teaching on July 31, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
If your kids get excited about cooking and start finding recipes they want to make, be supportive. Take them to the store to buy ingredients. Invest in a spring-form pan if they want one. Cooking is a life-long joy and necessity, so it’s worth at least as much sacrifice as gymnastics class, soccer, or music. [...]
A favorite memory from Chef Camp 2010
Posted in Cooking with Children, overheard, teaching on July 30, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Me: And now each of you will separate an egg. K begins taking off his watch and explains: My watch is waterproof, but I don’t think it’s egg-proof.
Cooking with Children, Vol. 5: Man doesn’t live on baked goods alone
Posted in Cooking with Children, In the Kitchen, teaching on July 30, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
By all means, start cooking lessons with the things your child likes to eat (which probably means breakfast and sweets). But somewhere between that first batch of brownies you make together and the high school graduation cake, you should make sure he knows how to cook dinner. When you choose recipes to make with your [...]
Cooking with Children, Vol. 4: Skip the jello
Posted in Cooking with Children, In the Kitchen, teaching on July 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Don’t get me wrong; I am not against jello. But teaching your child to make jello is as likely to produce a cook as Guitar Hero is likely to make your child the next Joe Satriani. I would recommend that you stay away from prepared foods/mixes as much as possible when you’re training a young [...]
Cooking with Children, Vol. 3: Don’t do much
Posted in Cooking with Children, In the Kitchen, teaching on July 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Near the end of Monday’s class, one of my students remarked that I hadn’t done much. This is true. I discuss things with my students, talk them through the recipe, and usually demonstrate each step, then I hand over the reins and let the students do the actual work. They’re slow and clumsy with tools [...]
Cooking with Children, Vol. 2: Expectations
Posted in Cooking with Children, In the Kitchen, teaching on July 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Cooking with children takes longer and is significantly messier than cooking by yourself. Acknowledge this fact, and adjust your plans and attitudes accordingly. While I want to teach good work habits, the last thing I want to do is squelch a child’s love for cooking and replace it with anxiety about using too many dishes, [...]
Cooking with Children, Vol 1: Safety
Posted in Cooking with Children, In the Kitchen, teaching, Uncategorized on July 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I’ll be honest: I don’t get excited about kitchen safety. But I feel like I have to give a lecture on it before I can start the fun stuff. All my cooking classes begin with these. Kitchens are dangerous places, but I think that the risks can be minimized and made age-appropriate and that the [...]
Cooking with Children, Intro
Posted in Cooking with Children, In the Kitchen, teaching on July 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I love coaching kids as they learn to cook. This week, “teach children to cook” gets added to the top of what already feels like my crammed to-do list. But when I’m with the kids, I don’t question why I agreed to add it; teaching kids to cook is a worthwhile joy. My friend, S., [...]
